State fair

It's time for California's San Celina Mid-State Fair, and Benni Harper Ortiz, a member of the fair's Booster Buddies, is heavily involved in its activities both as a volunteer and as a participant. When the replica of the famous Harriet Powers quilt disappears from the quilt exhibit, and a fairgoer is found dead in another one of the exhibits, Benni investigates, with the help of her great-aunt Garnet (think of a refined Grandma Mazur). As the two persevere in their search for perps and motives (Is someone upset by the choice of an African American as general manager of the fair?), Benni is dumbfounded by the change in her aunt from prim-and-proper matron to someone who has clearly been watching too many crime shows on TV. Framed by the sights and sounds of a western state fair, the novel mixes mystery, humor, and a perceptive look at racial issues in California farm country.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2010 Booklist

Set in 1997, Fowler's folksy 14th Benni Harper mystery (after 2007's Tumbling Blocks) finds the avid quilter, museum curator, and reluctant sleuth readying herself for the annual San Celina (Calif.) County Mid-State Fair. Racial tensions revolving around the fair's first black general manager, Levi Clark; Levi's half-white daughter, Jazz; and Jazz's various suitors stir the plot. So, too, does the visit from Arkansas of Benni's great-aunt, Garnet Wilcox. Garnet and her sister, Dove, Benni's grandmother, get along "like two bobcats trapped in a burning outhouse." A valued African-American quilt stolen from a fair exhibit and a corpse in another exhibit add fuel to the fire. Fowler's congenial mix of humor (prickly, surprising Garnet applies lessons learned from mystery books and cop shows), folklore (the history of black cloth dolls), and murder makes this Agatha Award-winning series as much fun to visit as a county fair and a likely ribbon winner. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved